White or green lights for night fishing???

[Vinsott]

I ended up fishing 3 different nights on 3 different weekends. I didn't notice much difference between using a green and white light.  Caught whites using both. First time with green  didn't keep any fish just wanted to see what we could catch. Caught at least 50 whites with most being caught after 1am.

Next trip used white light. Bait took much longer to gather but I think it was the conditions because most other light fisherman gave up much earlier then us. We decided to keep some and kept 8. We caught over 60 and a nice walleye.

Last trip used white again. Boat traffic was less and so were the fish. Only caught about 15 whites and they were smaller on average then the other trips.

So my conclusion is get what you want ,I don't think it matters that much. A friend told me they won't bite with a white light. I read on other older internet forums that on Beaver they don't bite as good with a green light. I also read  a 10' tiger shark is a possible catch on Beaver.

[Vinsott]

Just an observation. I saw some of the same boats fishing each time I went. I'm guessing they caught as many or more fish as we did because I could hear them flopping all over the aluminum boat bottoms. I rarely heard any go back in the water. I think the white bass taste pretty good when cleaned properly and eaten fresh. But , the couple of times I have froze some and ate them later I don't like it. Do people really need to keep that many fish if they don't taste that good frozen???  Or is it just a greed thing?

[chi0082]

9 hours ago, Vinsott said:

Just an observation. I saw some of the same boats fishing each time I went. I'm guessing they caught as many or more fish as we did because I could hear them flopping all over the aluminum boat bottoms. I rarely heard any go back in the water. I think the white bass taste pretty good when cleaned properly and eaten fresh. But , the couple of times I have froze some and ate them later I don't like it. Do people really need to keep that many fish if they don't taste that good frozen???  Or is it just a greed thing?

It's an ego thing. You have to catch more than the other guy or you're not a good fisherman. But you're right whites do taste better fresh as with most fish. I normally cut out all the red meat and they taste great. If they've been frozen, after I cut out the red meat I soak them in milk for 20 mins then I batter and throw them into hot oil immediately. Taste fantastic.

[J-Doc]

1 hour ago, chi0082 said:

It's an ego thing. You have to catch more than the other guy or you're not a good fisherman. But you're right whites do taste better fresh as with most fish. I normally cut out all the red meat and they taste great. If they've been frozen, after I cut out the red meat I soak them in milk for 20 mins then I batter and throw them into hot oil immediately. Taste fantastic.

That's a neat tip.

 

I freeze crappie and striper all the time.  No problems on my end but then again, I do not fry them.  I use a cast iron skillet and blacken the fillets.

[J-Doc]

10 hours ago, Vinsott said:

Just an observation. I saw some of the same boats fishing each time I went. I'm guessing they caught as many or more fish as we did because I could hear them flopping all over the aluminum boat bottoms. I rarely heard any go back in the water. I think the white bass taste pretty good when cleaned properly and eaten fresh. But , the couple of times I have froze some and ate them later I don't like it. Do people really need to keep that many fish if they don't taste that good frozen???  Or is it just a greed thing?

I think most of those people will eat them regardless.  And it is an ego thing.

Granted I do not go as much as I used to but I have not seen a school of whites busting on top in I cannot remember when.

I think the population of whites has been depleted quite a bit from previous years.  And what I have caught has not been very large at all.

[Dan the fisherman]

I haven't seen large schools of whites on top sense summer of '14.   I just attributed to the high water or something.  I would hate it if there numbers were down though.  Really hope that's not the case ?

[Mike jones]

10 hours ago, Dan the fisherman said:

I haven't seen large schools of whites on top sense summer of '14.   I just attributed to the high water or something.  I would hate it if there numbers were down though.  Really hope that's not the case ?

Did see a big school of BIG whites come up by 12 bridge a couple weeks ago...we were fishing a bass tournament and saw the water start to boil!!  We hit high speed on the trolling motor and both of us hooked up on our first cast with top water only to be disappointed that they were 2lb+ whites!!!

[Stump bumper]

I think the whites are still there just spread out more due to there being more shad. JMO but I have got some big whites on spoons deep, just not schooled up like I am used to. When I have seen schools they are smaller, but I think it is because they don't have to hunt that way with so many shad in the lake. That is what I am hoping anyway.

[RyanG]

Yeah this year, while I havnt been out near as much, has been rather quiet for me when it comes to the whites. Only have put 1 in the boat and I was fishing for spots when that happened. I've actually caught more striper than whites so far. Odd for me. lol

[Vinsott]

Tried again last night but didn't get out there till almost 12am. Didn't do very well again but the same guy that I see every time I go was out again. He has four green lights and uses the nets that you lower down to catch bait.  He and a women caught fish continuously all night till I couldn't take it anymore.  He caught some very large fish also that were not white bass. While he was bringing in one of the big ones I yelled over to ask what it was. No response. I took a couple of guys from work who speak spanish and they asked in spanish.  No response.  Then I yelled "Do you speak English?" Heard an indistinguishable mumble. I asked again if it was a catfish or striper? Ignored again. So I summed it up that either they didn't understand what we were asking or were just a couple of a$$$oles.  They had to catch 100 or more fish using the same shad we were. Pretty sure they kept them all except for one of the really big fish that took about 15 minutes to get in. Maybe a big gar???? Maybe he sells the fish because there is no way two people would ever need that many fish.

Not that many boats out so lots of empty spaces between bridge pilings and for the life of me why do some guys cross under the bridge right between two boats fishing when there is empty places all over. He was so close I might have been able to reach him with my pee stream, well maybe 10 years ago.  I'm sometimes tempted to throw a shad at them when they get that close.